… The threat of rain showers forced the Patriots indoors for today's practice, which was a walkthrough. Since they're hosting this week's Monday Night Football matchup with Kansas City, New England will conduct full workouts through Saturday this week. As a result, there will be no formal injury report released today. The team was in jerseys and sweats for today's session, no pads of any kind.
… Three players were absent from the walkthrough: cornerback Devin McCourty (right shoulder), and linebackers Dane Fletcher (thumb) and Brandon Spikes (right knee).
… Practice-player-of-the-week jerseys were handed out again this week. They'd been missing the past two weeks because the team only issues them after victories. Winners this week were: linebacker Niko Koutouvides, cornerback Phillip Adams, rookie running back Shane Vereen, and practice squanders Nick McDonald (o-line), Garrett Mills (tight end), Alex Silvestro (d-end), and OLB Markell Carter.
… Defensive end Andre Carter was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his franchise-record-setting 4.5-sack performance against the Jets last Sunday. This afternoon, however, his half-sack was taken away by the official league stat keepers and given to Mark Anderson.
… Some interesting conversations in the locker room today, including a chance for you to spend Christmas Eve with Rob Gronkowski. A full report will appear later today on patriots.com.
